Ethabuka
In June, I drove up the Kidman Way, across to Eulo, north to Quilpie and
then west via Windorah to Boudourie where I met up with 11 others. Scores
of Fairy Martins had built bottle-like mud nests under the roof of the
amenities block in the camp ground at Bouderie.
We were bound for Ethabuka, a property of the Australian Bush Heritage
Fund, about 120km to the west north west, on the eastern side of the
Simpson Desert. The property's western boundary is the Northern Territory
border and the Simpson Desert National Park adjoins its southern boundary.
Another Bush Heritage property, Cravens Peak, lies to the north but the two
Bush Heritage properties are separated by another station.
Our visit was arranged and led by by the Fund's Katrina Blake. Katrina also
organised and cooked our evening meals using camp ovens on an open fire.
The station managers Al and Karen took it in turns to accompany us on half
day outings to various parts of the property.
It was a busy time on Ethabuka. A well-known outback identity, Willie, was
busy, with two others, rounding up camels. An ABC photographer was
recording their work.
Then there were the 'rat catchers', PhD students and their supervisor from
the Sydney University, trapping and recording details of reptiles and
mammals such as Dunnarts.
There were dust catchers too, three students measuring erosion rates and
recording vegetation cover. I did a 20 minute 2 ha bird survey where the
dust catchers were working and recorded zilch.
Then another Bush Heritage person, Alexander arrived with a cameraman. They
are working on a DVD about the Australian Bush heritage Fund's properties.
Add relatives of the managers and a replacement manager and the number of
people on the station totalled over 30 whilst we were there.
Our camp site was chosen by the managers as it sometimes has lots of bush
birds. But not during our visit. During a survey around our camp site I
only sighted a pair of Yellow-throated Miners and a Magpie.
During our stay, we discussed and studied management issues and travelled
extensively about the property.
Some of the other participants were keen birders and, from time to time, I
elicited their assistance with some 2ha 20 minute bird surveys.
Birds were few and far between. Near Gypsum Hill we observed some Cinnamon
Quail Thrushes. A brochure about the property lists Chestnut Quail Thrush
but, checking distribution maps, I suspect this is an inadvertent error.
The birds we observed were Cinnamon Quail Thrushes.
>From time to time we observed small flocks of Zebra Finch, especially near
bores.
A survey in an area of mesas recorded only a Willie Wagtail.
Slim pickings indeed ... until we visited Pulchera Waterhole. Last year,
participants were stranded on ethabuka for several weeks following rain and
the waterhole was all but full. Now, there was just a smallish puddle of
water in the large, steep-sided linear waterhole. We recorded Masked
Lapwing, Wedgetailed Eagle, Red-capped Dotterel, White-backed Swallow,
White-plumed Honeyeater, Willie Wagtail, Zebra Finch, Orange Chat and a
corvid (Australian Raven?).
Handout notes we were given listed Yellow Chat but digital pictures one of
the other birders took of the Chat showed conclusively, when the photos
were enlarged on a laptop computer, that it was an Orange Chat even though,
from a distance, those who saw it took it to be a Yellow Chat. Just as
well, as I would have been annoyed being so close yet missing out on a
Yellow Chat.
Some friends from near Bendigo recently paid good money to go on a cruise
somewhere in the Northern Territory because the tour operator advertised
that Yellow Chats were always observed on the cruise. Strange, my friends
thought, because the habitat hardly seemed appropriate. When, during the
cruise, the operator pointed out Yellow Chats, the birds were, in fact,
Lemon-bellied Flycatchers!
Over 150 bird species have been observed on Ethabuka. Many birds on the
list are waterbirds and waders which arrived following past rainfall
events. It was very dry whilst we were there and we only observed a handful
of species. Nonetheless, it was an interesting and enjoyable visit and
supporters of Bush heritage may be interested in visiting this property
when the next open days are arranged.
I observed more birds en route than I did on Ethabuka. Birds observed along
the roadside included Brolgas, hundreds of Emus, a pair of Major Mitchell
Pink Cockatoos and any number of Apostle Birds.
On the way home, after visiting the date farm at Eulo, I camped overnight
at 'Eulo Bore'. It's still not a patch on what it was some years back.
There was water but very few birds came in at dusk or at dawn. I only saw
Willie Wagtail, Ringneck Parrots and a Black-fronted Dotterel. Birding is
usually somewhat better across the road and to the east but I could not
spare more time.
There were thousands of dead kangaroos on and alongside the Mitchell
Highway between Cunnamulla and Bourke. Birds feeding on the carcasses
included Wedgetailed Eagle, Little Crow, Australian Raven and Pied
Butcherbird.
Keith Stockwell
Moama
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